Smprovement in skates



UNITED STATES Aralar trios.

WILLIAM BAILEY, OF U'IICA, NEW YORK.

lM PROVElVI ENT IN SKATES.

Specilica-tion forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,807, dated December8, 1863.

specification, in which- Figure 4 is a perspective representation of thefinished skate as improved by me. Fig. 2 is the same with the reversesid'e turned upward. Fig. 3is asection of the skate on ascale of fullsize with the covering-plate, Fig. 6, left on", disclosing thechamberPsunk in the skatestock and the included agencies by which the,clasps hereinafter described are operated.

Fig. 4 shows this interior arrangement separate from the skate andincluding the clasps a b. Fig. 5 shows these adjustable claspsseparately, disclosing more clearly their connection and relativeposition. Fig. 6 is the cover to be screwed down over this internalarrangement; and Fig. 7 is the key by which the adjustable clasps areoperated.

These adjustable clasps are designed to embrace the sole of the boot oneachs ide of the foot, and to fasten the skate to the boot in aid of theusual strap to be buckled across the foot, and to relieve the latterfrom being necessarily drawn so tight as to be painful. The clasps holdthe skate securely, and although the ordinary strap is used in addition,itA is not buckled so tight as to be inconvenient. These clasps, whenthe skate is on, lie directly under the ball of the foot, covered by theplate, Fig. 6, on which the sole of the boot rests, the clasp endsprojecting, as shown at a b, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 shows the connection of thetwo clasps. They meet by a sort of loose joint. The pendent lips c dpass each other, the single lip of the clasp a passing between the twolips on the clasp b, so that when these pendent lips on the respectiveclasps are pressed apart the clasphooks a b are drawn nearer togetherand clasp the sole of the boot. (See a b, Fig. 1.)

When they are pressed apart, the clasps are loosened from the boot. Toaccomplish this operation when the skate is on the foot, the wedges e f,Fig. 3, are placed within the chamber P, and the cone g, on ascrew-stem, h, is

placed between them, this screw-stem working in ascrew-tap in the xednut t, The clasps, Fig. 5,are then laid on7 so that the pendent lips cand d pass each other, as described, and settle into the chamber outsideof the wedges, as shown in Fig. 4. This can be done only after the coneg is withdrawn to the position shown inFig. 4. N ow, it is evident thatwhen the cone gis forced in between the wedges e f the latter will bepressed apart and carry with them the pendent lips of the clasps, andthat this brings the clasp-hooksaand b, Figs. 1 and 5, nearer together,causing them to grip the sole of the boot, as described. This isperformed when the skate is on the foot with the utmost ease by the useof the key, Fig. 7, applied to the screw stem h, Fig. 3, outside. Whenthe cone g is withdrawn by the use of the key, as described, the claspsbeing at liberty are easily disengaged from the boot-sole by the hand,and are in likeinanner opened for the reception of the foot in puttingon the skate, and when properly adjusted the key is used to tightentheir hold upon the boot. This mode of fastening to the boot-soleis notnecessarily limited to the skate of the iiat runner, as here described,but may be applied to skates of other forms of the runner or skate-iron.

For the purpose o f increasing the breadth of base on which the weightof the body rests in skating, and at the same time avoiding too greatweight of metal in the runner, the latter is flattened, the widththereof being greater than the depth, as seen in Fig. 2, the two raisededges of the runner being about half an inch apart, making a firmer andsurer base to stand upon, and much easier and safer for beginners, youngpersons, and others, and for a suitable elevation of the foot; and tofacilitate the use of bracing-sheaves at the sides, as hereinafterdescribed, the said flattened runner is tted to a deep wooden stock,-K,Figs. 1 and 2, upon which the runner is laid, as seen in Fig. 2. It isfastened at both the toe and the heel by a peculiar device. At the toethe runner curves up in front and terminates in a dovetailed form, whichis let into the wooden stock, as seen at Z, which, when fastened at theheel, as described, holds it securely. This mode of fastening the runnerat the toe by dovetailing into the stock is applicable to all ordinaryforms of skates. At the heel I am enabled,by

the greater Width of the runner, to insert the heel-pin directly throughthe runner and settle a square head into a countersunk recess betweenthe raised edges of the runner, as seen at m, Fig. 2, which, beingdressed off, is even with the surface of the runner and quite out of thewayin the use of the skates. rIhis avoids the necessity of brackets atthe sides or end, through which to fasten the runner to the stock. Theheelpin passes through the stock and projects on the opposite side,where it is drawn up by ascrew-nut, as shown at n, Fig. l.

The bracing-sheaves r r r r, Fig. 2, are set in the Wooden stock, ashere shown, retreating a little from the plane of the ruimer to strikethe ice and sustain and relieve thc ankle when the foot happens to turnto either side. They are simple metal rollers turning easily on theirarbors of Wire. They brace the l'ootand greatly increase the safetyandease of the skater, and are especially useful to the beginner. They areapplicable only to the form of skate here described,where the woodenstock or its equivalent to sustain them comes down near to thebearing-surface of the ruimer.

Having thus described my invention, I do not claim, generally, theuse ofclamps for fastening the skate to the boot-sole, as clamps in otherforms and by other modes of operation have heretofore been used; but

I claim- 1. .'Ihe construction of the clamps with the pendent lipsconnected and arranged as I have described, and the mode of operatingthem which I hay a described.

2. 'lhe construction and use of the skaterunner of the flattenedform,with the elevated edges spread apart for greater base and for otherpurposes, as described, in combination With the deep Wooden stock withbearing sheaves, as described, and for the purposes described.

3. The mode of fastening the runner to the Wooden stock by means of thedovetail device fat the toe, as described, and the heel-pinpass ingdirectly through the runner at the heel, with head countersunlc in themanner described, and for the purposes described, the Whole beingconstructed, combined, and arranged substantially in the manner hereinset forth.

WILLIAM BAILEY.

